Juan Sandoval is one of many pitchers hoping to impress the Tampa Bay Rays this spring, but he isn't your average 32-year-old reliever hoping to get one more shot at reaching the majors.

Sandoval is blind in his right eye.

Reliever Juan Sandoval, who is blind in one eye, hopes to impress the Rays. (AP Photo)

Rays reliever Joel Peralta recommended Sandoval to Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman this offseason after Sandoval had impressed him in the Dominican winter league.

"I told (Friedman) this could be pretty good," Peralta told the Tampa Bay Times. "But I told him this is the catch: He's only got one eye."

Friedman saw some video of Sandoval and offered him a minor league contract.

According to the newspaper, Sandoval, then in the Seattle Mariners organization, was out at dinner with his fiancé and some relatives in the Dominican Republic in February of 2006. A fight broke out at the restaurant, and a shot was fired. Several shotgun pellets hit his right eye.

Ten months later, he was back on the mound.

"God blessed me; that's the only thing I could say," Sandoval told the Times. "I could do everything. … And I've been playing seven years after now."

After bouncing around the minors and the Mexican League since his return, Sandoval went 7-3 with a 2.97 ERA in 67 relief appearances in the Mexican League in 2012. He followed that with a strong showing in the Dominican winter league, where Peralta took notice

"It's incredible," Rays manager Joe Maddon told the newspaper. "He's got a really good arm. And I'm so impressed with his ability; you watch his balance, his delivery, his finish. And it looks like his command is really good.

"I'm certain the fact that he's 32 and has been blinded in one eye probably kept him out of pro ball for a while. … (But) I haven't seen anything that would suggest to me he would not be able to do this. It's interesting to observe."